But he was asked what the No. 4 Spartans need to do to get to the line against the Hoosiers, as Indiana's game notes after the previous meeting said IU "held" Michigan State (22-4, 11-2) without a free-throw attempt.

"I gotta get uncle frank and brother Jessie to do a better job calling them, probably,'' Izzo said, sending the gathered media into a fit of laughter before delivering a serious answer.

"We haven't done as good of a job, that's one thing we talk to our Bigs about,'' Izzo said, referring to his front court players. "We have to do a better job of taking it to them and not falling away, taking those kind of shots and we have to be more aggressive with the ball.''

Izzo correctly pointed out that with MSU point guard Keith Appling limited to 19 minutes in the first meeting (on account of fouls), the Spartans lost their most likely threat from the free-throw line.

Appling is, by far, Michigan State's leading free-throw shooter with 140 attempts — no one else has even attempted 100.

"Having Keith out of there hurts that, too, because he is the more aggressive guy in penetrating, gets to the free-throw line and he puts people in position to get to the free-throw line,'' Izzo said. "Maybe they did hold us, maybe we self-checked ourselves, maybe a combination of both.''

Indiana, conversely, has had a knack for getting to the free-throw line.

"Everybody talks about what (Cody) Zeller doesn't do,'' Izzo said. "People are mad he's not more physical, or he's not more this or that; when you get to the line eight or nine times (per game), you're doing something, and you're doing it pretty physical.''

"They lead the world, I think, in free throws taken per game,'' Izzo said. "We played them down there, they were averaging 30, not it's 29, which is unbelievable, and I think it shows their aggressive approach with multiple ballhandlers and why they do a good job with that.

"So, we have to do a good job ourselves. They did a good job holding us, we did a good job holding us, and the combination was catastrophic, not to get to the line in the second half.''